Untitled
by Shattered Angel
Summary: The story of Kathryn Malarkey, a tough girl with a vicious cousin who will stop at nothing to make her life miserable. Rating for violence and death. Finished!
1. Author's Note

AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far! I took down the other copies of Crisis, Tears, Tension, and the Epilogue because I finally got chapters to work with me! Woohoo!   
  
If you haven't reviewed, please do! And if you have, review again! Ok, you don't have too, just an idea. :)  
  
If anyone cares, I got the idea for all the titles from songs from the show Outlaw Star. I liked all the songs and figured they'd work well for this story.  
  
One final disclaimer, I don't own Newsies, which inspired this story, nor Outlaw Star, or the songs. I do own the idea for this story and all characters except Bittah, who is owned by, well, Bittah.  
  
That's all I have to say, I hope you enjoy the story! So grab some popcorn and your mouse and start reading!  
  
~Dagger 


	2. Power

Disclaimer: I own all of the characters in this story, so please don't take them. The movie Newsies, which inspired this fic is owned by Disney.  
  
  
  
  
Prologue -August 17, 1900  
Dear Diary,  
I can't believe this. He's dead. He's the second friend of mine to die in the last two months, and I let both of them get killed...  
Kate  
  
Now  
I bet you're wondering who Kate is. That would be my great-great-grandmother, Kathryn Malarkey, better known as Dagger Malarkey. She was 15 when that was written and the friends that died...well, you'll find out about them soon enough...  
  
@}----  
  
April 11, 1900  
"Look, if ya want out, ya gotta fight me. If you win you can take over the gang or leave; it's your choice," Squall said. He loved a challenge and knew Kate would be a good one.  
"Fine. Tomorrow. Noon. Trapper's Alley," was the harsh reply from Kate. Nobody that had challenged her before had ever won; of course, nobody had ever beaten Squall either.  
  
@}----  
  
April 12, 1900  
"Where is he?! All I wanna do is get out of the Midnight Shadows and Queens!" Kate fumed. Her friend Mae just listened. Mae was there in case things got ugly, and chances were that they would.  
"He's probably just trying to wear you down by making you angry. Or he's trying to show this crowd that he feels like being fashionably late today," Mae commented on the huge crowd that had formed. The two strongest fighters in Queens in a one-on-one fight wasn't a usual happening.   
Then Squall showed up. What had felt like hours to Kate had only been a few minutes.  
"Sorry I'm late," he said with a sly grin. "Shall we?" Kate nodded and they began to circle each other...  
  
Later That Night  
'I did it,' Kate thought to herself. 'I beat Squall. And I took his dagger too,' she smiled at this last part. Everyone in Queens knew about Squall's dagger; he had used it in every fight, including the one with Kate. But now she tied it to her leg and wore it proudly as a sign of her victory.  
She said goodbye to the other Shadows and headed to her birthplace, Brooklyn.  
  
@}----  
  
April 13, 1900  
"Hey, you ok?" a boy of around 16 asked.  
"Yea, I'm fine. Who're you?" Kate answered somewhat annoyed. She just wanted to sleep a little bit more, even though the Brooklyn Bridge wasn't exactly the most comfortable place to do so.  
"I'm Ryan, but friends call me Doc. And you are?"  
"Kate Malarkey," she quickly answered, hoping the boy would leave.  
"So Kate, I'm guessing you were in some sort of fight recently," she nodded at this and he continued, "You look pretty banged up."  
"What?"  
"Your wrist looks busted and you got a nice shiner starting," he answered.  
"I was in a major fight with the leader of the gang I was in. Ya ever heard of the Midnight Shadows?" she asked as she fixed her short hair under her grey cap.  
"You're Dagger Malarkey?" Ryan questioned surprised.  
"That's my last name but I've never been called Dagger," Kate replied.  
"You beat Squall in that fight, didn't you?" he asked amazed. She was short for her age, but must've been stronger than she looked. Or she just had a big enough attitude to take on anyone and win.  
"Yea...," she said wondering where his questions were leading.  
"Then it is you! When you took his dagger after the fight everyone started calling you Dagger Malarkey," he said grinning. "Well, I'm guessing you're exhausted, so do you want to stay here, or come to the Brooklyn Newsie Lodging House?"  
"Are there beds there?" he nodded and she answered, "Sure."  
  
@}----  
  
"Dagger, wake up," Doc said. "You gotta meet the others."  
"I'm awake, I'm awake," she replied slowly moving. As she tried to sit up though, she put her bad wrist down to support her. As the pain shot through her arm she smothered a quick yelp.  
Doc seeing her pain asked, "Do ya want me to splint that for ya? Before ya meet everybody? They don't call me Doc for no reason," he added after her questioning look.  
"I guess," she replied and he left to go get the splint and wrap, as an unfamiliar face walked in.  
"You must be Dagger, right?" the newcomer asked his stunning golden eyes sparkling.  
"Yea, you would be?" she retorted. 'I didn't mean that to sound so harsh; I don't even know this guy,' she thought to herself.  
"I'm Tobias Smith, but everyone calls me Hawk," he said a little startled by her attitude but grinning anyways. He could tell that she had spunk. "Doc told me about your fight with Squall. Nobody her likes him, we've had some trouble with the Midnight Shadows in the past."  
"I never knew the Shadows came to Brooklyn. I would've stopped them if I knew. I was born here."   
Hawk just looked at her, his eyes asking her to tell more, but Doc came back before she could open her mouth again.  
"Ok, this probably won't hurt, but if it does, don't move," Doc commanded as he splinted her wrist then wrapped it to stay.   
"I didn't feel a thing," Dagger said amazed. Every time she had a bone splinted before it had hurt. After her saying this Doc went on to tell her about how he wanted to be a real doctor one day.  
When Doc finished telling his dream, he asked Dagger about her past.  
"Well, my mom died giving birth to me and my dad raised me. He was a blacksmith and taught me everything about it. Then one day, and ember fell from the fire and the shop burned down with my dad in it. I was two blocks away at a friend's. When I came home I saw what had happened and knew right then that I was an orphan. I ran to Queens, where my cousin, Squall, lived." The boys' mouths dropped open at this last remark, but Dagger just kept on talking. "Of course, then he still lived with my aunt and uncle and he still used his real name, Patrick Malarkey. Then him and I ran away and started the Midnight Shadows. I was 10 and he was 13 then," she trailed off then, lost in her memories.   
"Dags, you ok?" Hawk asked, honestly concerned at the tears in her eyes.  
"Huh? Wha?? Oh, yea. I'm fine, don't worry. So, what's your stories?" She asked after snapping out of her dream world.  
Hawk was the first to answer. "Well, when I was 7, my parents died in a fire. Me and my brother Jack were pulled out. We ran as soon as we could, not wanting to go to an orphanage. We found a gang in Brooklyn and they took us in. It was another gang from Harlem that we always had trouble with. So one day, we decided to have a rumble, just get it over with, ya know? Well, the guys from Harlem, they knew how important my brother was to our gang and them killed him there. After the fight I ran back to Brooklyn and found my brother's friend, Knuckles. He was the leader of the Brooklyn newsies then and taught me everything I know now. He decided he didn't want to stay in Brooklyn a little while later and left me in charge."  
"Wow, you had a rough few years there," Dagger commented wondering how he could have liked such a hard life and still be so kind.  
"Yea," was Hawk's answer as the rest of the newsies showed up. As each of them saw Dagger, they began whispering to each other. Hey, hey! Calm down. She's just a new recruit. This is Dagger Malarkey, a former member of the Midnight Shadows," Hawk explained before they could ask.  
"She was a Shadow?" They all asked in unison.  
"Look, I never hurt anybody from Brooklyn. I was born and raised here, so stop those thoughts," Dagger spoke up, knowing that they thought she might have messed with them in the past.  
"Well, that's good to know," a tough looking girl said. She walked up to Dagger, spat in her hand and stuck it out to her then Dagger mimicked her actions.  
"I'm Twilight," she simply said. The contrast between the girls was amazing; Twilight was tall and stronger looking compared to Dagger. Her red ringlets made Dagger's red highlights in her dark hair stand out. But they had one similarity: their eyes. They were as green as any leaf in the summer and both looked jaded, but also happy, like they had come out of a rough situation ok.  
"Did you see their eyes Doc? They're so similar," Hawk whispered to his friend.  
"Yea, maybe they're related or something," Doc suggested.  
@}----  
April 14, 1900  
"Wake up time girls!" Mrs. Ross, the owner of the Brooklyn Lodging House, yelled.  
"Wake up? It's 5am!" Dagger wondered aloud.  
"Us newsies don't sleep in. We gotta get to the distribution center before they sell out," a girl around 17 said. "I'm Dove by the way."  
"Dagger," Kate replied.  
"Hey girls, stop chatting and go get ready," Twilight commanded. "Oh, and Dagger, Hawk told me he'll show ya the ropes."  
Dagger got ready and headed downstairs where Hawk was waiting.   
"So, ya ready to hawk some headlines?" he asked grinning.  
"Sure. Is that how ya got your name? Hawking headlines?" Dagger replied.  
Hawk laughed before answering. "No, even though it fits. It's actually because of the color of my eyes. Twilight called me that when I became a newsie and it's stuck."  
"Oh," she replied as they headed out.  
@}----  
Around Noon  
"Hey Dags, wanna go get something to eat?" Hawk questioned. They had sold all of their papers and he didn't even have to teach her how to "improve the truth" at all.  
"Yea, I'm getting hungry," she replied and they headed to Proctor's Place.  
They walked inside and Dagger was pleasantly surprised. From the outside, the building looked old and rundown, but it was much different inside. Not exactly fancy, but nice enough. All the Brooklyn newsies were there, taking a break before going back out to sell the afternoon edition.  
Hawk headed over to a table where Twilight and an unfamiliar guy were sitting.  
"Dagger, this is Switch, known for his black-handled switchblade," Hawk said, answering her unvoiced question. After Switch nodded his hello, Hawk and Dagger sat down.  
"Hey Twilight, Dagger, I've been wondering, well, are you two related?" Hawk questioned as Doc ran in the door and made a beeline to their table.  
"Dagger, there's this girl waiting outside for you. Said her name was Starwind or something like that," he spat out, while the room quieted. Dagger closed her eyes and balled her fists, obviously containing some sort of rage.  
"Ok," she muttered as she got up and went towards the door. Hawk and the others started following her and she told them to stay out of it. "This is my battle. I need to show them that I have more power than Squall."  
@}----  
Outside  
"What do you want Starwind?"  
"Just to see that you're happy with making no money. We just got some new kids that know plenty of places with lots of rich people. You could've been so rich."  
"Cut the crap. Why are you really here?"  
"Fine. On the 19th at Trapper's Alley. A rumble between the Shadows and the Brooklyn newsies. Squall will be fine by then, so he can fight."  
"I have to talk to Hawk and Twilight. We'll have a war council tomorrow here at noon."  
"Fine."  
  
End 


	3. Crisis

Disclaimer: I own all of the characters in this story, so please don't take them. The movie Newsies, which inspired this fic, is owned by Disney.  
  
  
  
  
April 15th-Noon  
"Fine, at Trapper's Alley on the 19th, 7 of the Brooklyn newsies will be there, ready to fight," Hawk told Rage, Squall's second in command. They had been talking for quite some time and they had finally agreed that it would be 7 newsies vs. 7 Shadows.  
"No, just me and Squall. This is our battle," Dagger spoke up. She had only been a newsie for a few days, but she didn't want her friends fighting. Especially not against the Shadows. The Brooklyn newsies were tough, but not as tough as the Shadows. She thought back to the night before, when she had overheard Hawk and Doc talking.  
~*~  
"Hawk, ya know I'm not gonna fight unless I have to, right?"  
"Doc, nobody is expecting you to fight. I think we should tell Dagger though. She needs to understand why you won't fight."  
"Ok, but I wanna tell her."  
"Ok Doc," Hawk replied as Doc left the room in search of Dagger, who had just ran to the bunkroom, hoping neither one of the guys had heard or seen her in the hall.  
When Doc reached the room, he headed straight towards Dagger.  
"Um, Dags, I gotta tell you something. It's about the fight with the Shadows. I won't be fighting."  
Dagger nodded, wondering why, and he continued with the answer to her question.  
"Ya see, my dad was in this gang when my mom got pregnant. He told her he'd quit after this rumble that the gang needed his help with. Well, he was stabbed and died there. My mom was determined to still have me and take care of me, even without my dad, but she died giving birth to me," he finished.  
"Doc, ya didn't have to explain if ya didn't want to," Dagger said calmly.  
"Everybody else knows and I figured you'd wonder why."  
"Well, yea, I would've wondered, but I wouldn't have said anything."  
"I know. It was my choice to tell."  
"Hey!! Get to bed! You gotta get up early tomorrow!" Mrs. Ross' voice echoed through the hall.  
"Well, goodnight Dagger."  
"'Night Doc."  
~*~  
"Dagger? Dagger! Snap out of it!" Hawk commanded.  
"Sorry 'bout that," she replied to his order.  
"It's ok, but we've decided something. You and Squall will fight, but each of you will bring one person as a medic. Only one though. And fists or blades only," Hawk filled her in.  
"Ok, that's fine," she answered and they all went their separate ways.  
~*~  
April 16-18th  
Everything went as usual the days before the fight, but as it got closer the tension seemed to grow. Everybody wondered who Dagger would pick to go with her. Doc would be the obvious choice because of his medical skill, but nobody could be sure that's what Dagger would decide.  
The day before the fight Dagger requested for everyone to be at the bunkroom by 8 that night and all the newsies agreed.  
"Ok, I know you've all wanted to know who I'm gonna take with me and, well, Hawk, will you come with me tomorrow?" she asked wondering if since he was the leader if she was even allowed to ask him.  
"Of course Dags," he replied as the newsies cheered quickly then returned to their poker and craps games.  
~*~  
April 19th  
"You ready Dags?" Hawk questioned on their way to Trapper's Alley.  
"Yea," she replied smoothly, but inside she was afraid. Afraid of losing, afraid of what might happen to her friends if she lost, afraid of possibly killing her cousin. They walked the rest of the way in silence, both thinking many 'what ifs'.  
~*~  
At Trapper's Alley  
"Can we say 'déjà vu'?" Dagger asked aloud, to nobody in particular.  
"You could, but this fight will have a different ending," Squall replied coolly. He was confident that his new weapon of choice would help out.  
They decided to start and Dagger was doing great. She avoided almost all of his punches and landed all of hers. As they fought, Hawk and Rage stood by, both commenting on Dagger's apparent lead. As things got worse for Squall he decided it was time to bring out his new weapon as a cry was heard.  
"Dags! Dags! He's got a...," Doc's voice trailed off as the bullet hit him in the chest.  
"Gun," Squall finished for him as he put it away.  
"Doc!" Dagger and Hawk both cried at the same time and rushed over to their dying friend.  
"Oh Doc! Why'd you do it? Why?" Dagger asked, tears streaming down her face.  
"You're one of my best friends. You've got a better chance in life than me anyway," Doc answered as his eyes closed, never to open again.  
~*~  
Later That Night  
Hawk and Dagger sat in the bunkroom while everybody absorbed what they had been told. Hawk, their leader, their strong, fearless leader, was close to tears, but just holding on so he could still hold onto that fearless image. Dagger, well, there's only one way to describe the way she was in the bunkroom: enraged. She was glad that Squall had left after killing Doc or she would've killed him right then and there, and murder wasn't exactly something she wanted to have on her conscience.  
~*~  
April 21st  
"I'll see ya around buddy," Hawk said as he passed by his friend's casket and headed back to the Lodging House for the wake. Everybody wore sadness that day, not suspecting things would soon get much worse.  
  
  
The End 


	4. Tears

Disclaimer: I own all of the characters in this story except Bittah, who is owned by Bittersweet Harmony. The movie Newsies, which inspired this fic, is owned by Disney.  
  
April 23rd  
It had been a rough week for the Brooklyn newsies. They were all still in shock over Doc's death when Hawk announced that he would get revenge.  
"Hawk, you need to take somebody with you in case Squall pulls any tricks," a girl named Britain said as she tucked her sandy blonde hair behind her ear.  
"No, just me. I want that jerk to know that nobody messes with Brooklyn without paying for it," was Hawk's reply.  
"Hawk, can I talk to you?" Dagger questioned, motioning toward the bunkroom. He followed her in, knowing she wanted to go with him to fight. "I'm coming. Squall will try something."  
"You don't think I can beat him, do you?"  
"No, I know you can, but not if he cheats. Let me come and I'll just hide somewhere," Dagger replied calmly although she knew he was just as stubborn as her and wouldn't move from his position without more of a fight.  
"You aren't coming. I don't want you getting hurt."  
"I can take care of myself!" Dagger yelled, furious that he thought she couldn't hold her own. "Haven't I proved that before?"  
"You have, but if he pulls something, I don't want you there, just in case."  
"I don't want you by yourself if he pulls something."  
"You don't think I can handle whatever he throws out?" Hawk stated, rather than asked.  
"No, I do, but..."  
"But what Kate?"  
"You're the only person that hasn't given me a dirty look since Doc died. I know I'm the reason he died, but you never made me feel worse about it. If something happened to you...this is my fight anyways."  
"Nothing will happen to me. And I would never blame you for Doc's death. Squall was the one that pulled the trigger. He's the one responsible." Hawk said with a mixture of emotions before pulling Dagger into a tight hug.  
"But Brooklyn would have never been involved with the Shadows if it weren't for me," Dagger said quietly.  
"Hush," Hawk said right before he kissed her.  
  
April 24th  
"Dagger, about the kiss last night, it meant..."  
"Nothing right?" Dagger cut him off, knowing all too well how men can behave when a relationship comes up. She had learned about that when she had dated Rage, Squall's second in command. One day it was love, the next it meant nothing.  
"No, it meant a lot to me, but what did it mean to you?" Hawk replied, hurt that she thought it meant nothing.   
"Everything," she answered smiling.  
"That's a good thing," Hawk said breathing out a sigh of relief. "Now, about the fight with Squall, I'm going alone. I'm not telling you when I'm going either."  
"Fine, you can go by yourself, but tell us when you leave. If you don't come back after awhile, me and Twilight'll go check it out," Dagger said in a way that he knew that arguing would be pointless.   
"Ok, that's fine," Hawk replied just as stubbornly as his friend.  
"Hey Hawk, when I asked Doc why he came, he told me I had a better chance to live. What did he mean?"  
"Doc was smart, but he couldn't fight. I tried to teach him how to defend himself once, at his request, but he just couldn't pick up the flow. You need to be able to flow to fight well. You have a better chance at living because you're smart and you can flow. You're gonna make it out of it; off these streets. Doc wouldn't have and he would have been miserable," Hawk said somberly.  
Dagger just nodded and the two stood in silence, as if giving a quiet tribute to their fallen friend.  
  
April 25th  
"I'm going today Dags," Hawk said on his way out. "Give me three hours. If I'm not back by then, come check on me."  
"Ok," Dagger replied, still sure that him going by himself wasn't a smart move. She went back to her normal routine, but kept a close eye on the time, and when a little over two hours had passed, she headed to Queens.  
  
In Queens  
Dagger walked around in a daze of familiarity as she passed by her old hangouts. She headed to the old Shadow hideout, hoping it hadn't moved and was relieved when she saw signs of life from inside. She walked in, stopping all activity and conversations that were going on.   
"Where the hell is Squall?" she demanded when she couldn't see him in the room.  
"I'm over here Kate. What do you want?" Squall's cold voice came from a corner as he moved into the light so she could see him.  
"Where's Hawk?"  
"I haven't seen him."  
"Bull! Where is he?"  
"I don't know Kate," Squall insisted as one of the newest Shadows, Burgundy, ran in from the outside.  
"Hey Squall, there's some guy in the alley by Pete's Bar. He said to come get you and somebody named Dagger. He figured she'd be here," she said, her voice full of worry.  
"Oh she's here alright," Dagger said bitterly and fearfully at the same time. She grabbed Squall's arm and demanded she take him to where Hawk was, since she hadn't heard of Pete's Bar before.  
  
~*~  
"Hawk!" Dagger screamed as she ran over to his body. 'I'm too late' she silently lamented as Squall stood back, a stoic expression on his face.  
"The Spades did this," Squall said, his voice giving even less emotion than his face.  
"Who?"  
"This other gang that's moved in since you left. They used to be in Harlem but decided they liked Queens better. You see that shape on his arm?" Squall asked pointing to a small spade shape carved into Hawk's arm. "That's their symbol. My guess is your boy had some debt with them."  
"But he never told me anything about them."  
"Think about it. They killed him. He didn't want you getting mixed up with them."  
"How do you know all of this?" Dagger asked suspiciously.  
"I have my sources."  
"I bet you do. You have something to do with this, I know you do," Dagger said before walking away with a look of determination and with Hawk's body over her shoulder.  
  
~*~  
When Dagger got back, everyone knew it was not good news that they were going to receive. They knew what the tears rolling down her cheeks meant. They knew their leader was gone; their friend was gone.   
"Squall didn't do it," she said still sure he was connected somehow.   
"What do you mean?" Britain asked, her green eyes full of tears.  
"She means he's too much of a pansy to kill the man you love. Doc was close to you, but in a different way. Basically he hired a hit man," a stocky, yet curvy girl said, while tucking her blonde hair up under her cap. "I'm Bittah by the way. I grew up with Hawk, and just found out he was here."  
"Bittah? Like from the Shadows way back when?" Dagger asked amazed.  
"Glad to see somebody still remembers me," Bittah said with a laugh. "You been in Brooklyn all this time kid?"  
"For a little while. I just got out of the Shadows and I came right here," Dagger replied.  
"Sorry to break up old home week gals, but we need to pick a new leader. I don't want to dishonor Hawk by picking someone new, but it has to be done," Dove commented, and everyone knew she was right.  
"I think Twilight should be the leader. She's been here the longest," Dagger spoke up and the other newsies gave their approval. "What do you think about that Twilight?"  
"Why not?" Twilight answered, a grin playing on her lips but the smile didn't reach her eyes, which were so similar to Dagger's.  
  
April 26th  
"Hawk was a great guy..." Britain was speaking at his funeral, but Dagger didn't hear her words. Her mind kept viciously throwing images of her and Hawk at her. Images of when the first met, how he taught her how to sell papes, how he came as her backup when she fought Squall, how a fight between the two had led to their first and only kiss, and how she had carried his body home.  
The night before these same images had haunted her dreams along with the many 'what if' scenes that played through her head. What if she had tried harder to stop Hawk? What if she had followed him? What if she had killed Squall when she had the chance?  
She had woken from her nightmare before the sun had risen and she had slowly crept up to the roof, where she cried, a mix of anger, regret, and sadness filling her.  
"Dagger? C'mon. It's over, let's go," Bittah said as she gently pulled Dagger away from her friend's casket but not away from the lingering images inside her mind.  
  
~*~  
When everyone was back at the lodging house, Dagger decided to talk to the others.   
"I've decided to stop Squall no matter what," was all she said, her green eyes no longer a warm green color, but an icy color that can only be brought out by anger.  
"I'm coming with you. Hawk was my friend too, plus I need to settle something with Rage when we're there," Bittah said, a devious smile on her face.  
"Yea, I'll come along too. Nobody messes with my friends without messing with me," Britain added.   
Dagger nodded a silent thanks to the girls and the trio headed to Queens. 


	5. Tension

Tension  
  
As the girls headed to Queens, Bittah told them about Hawk's past.   
"Did he tell you about the gang he and his brother were in?" Bittah asked. Dagger nodded and she continued. "Well, the gang was called the Spades and he did have a debt with them. He left after his brother was killed, even though he had promised to be a member for life. When Squall found out about you and Hawk, he talked to his buddy Seth, who just happens to be the leader of the Spades."  
"So Squall just used Hawk's debt to his own advantage," Dagger said and Bittah nodded in reply.  
"What a guy," Britain added, her voice full of sarcasm.  
"Hey Bittah, what happened with you and Rage?" Dagger questioned.  
"Oh, we were together for awhile, but he got drunk one night and ended up in bed with some girl. I left the Shadows without ever telling him I knew. I figure now would be a fine time to clue him in," Bittah replied.  
"Oooh, I see," Dagger added. They walked in silence the rest of the way to the Shadows HQ.   
Squall greeted them when they arrived.   
"Well, well, does my dear cousin miss me?" he asked, a sarcastic grin on his face.  
"Oh yea Squall. I really want to see the person who killed my two best friends," Dagger replied as the iciness of her eyes returned.  
"I told you I didn't kill the one."  
"You used his debt with the Spades," Bittah said from the shadows where she was standing. She walked into the light and Squall's face dropped.  
"Bittah? What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice full of anger and fear.  
"Just back to say 'hello' to Rage. Anything wrong with that?" Bittah said with a grin on her face.  
"Not at all. He's inside," Squall finished and Bittah headed into the HQ.  
"Let's get this over with, shall we?" Dagger said, already in a fighting stance.  
"Sure thing cos," Squall replied.  
"Don't forget me," Britain added as her fist met the side of Squall's head. Squall responded with a swing of his own fists, but her quick feet allowed her to dodge it and he kept going forward, his inertia carrying him.  
Dagger laughed a little at this but failed to realize he had gotten his balance back and his fist met her stomach. As she doubled over, he brought his knee to her face.  
As her head snapped back, Squall said, "It's a good thing Hawk's dead. He doesn't have to see you lose."  
With blind fury, Dagger swung out, connecting with Squall's jaw so hard that he collapsed.   
Britain had let the two fight but squeezed in one good quick to Squall's head when he was down.  
"Dags, you gonna off him?" Britain questioned.  
"No, because if I did, I'd be like him. I'm just going to turn him in for Doc's murder," Dagger said, eyes still blazing dangerously.  
"I'll tell you did this to me," Squall said from his place on the ground.  
"I'll tell about you and Seth killing Hawk if you do," Dagger replied before dragging him off to the police.  
  
Later that night  
"Well, Squall confessed to killing Doc. He'll be there for a long time," Dagger said, satisfied that she didn't have to worry about him anymore.   
"You did a good thing Dags," Britain said.  
"Hey Bittah, what happened with you and Rage?" Dagger asked.  
"Oh, not much. I told him what I knew, he denied it, and my foot met his groin. That's all," Bittah replied grinning.  
All the guys in the room groaned, knowing the pain Rage felt and all the girls just laughed.  
  
Next Day  
Nobody sold that day as a party had been planned. Everyone was still in the Lodging House getting ready for that night.  
"Dagger! Do you still have that blue dress?" Britain yelled from across the bunkroom.  
"Here!" Dagger yelled back as she threw the dress at her friend.  
The girls all helped each other get ready before heading to Proctor's Place, where the guys already where.  
  
After the Party  
"My poor feet," Britain said; she had danced non-stop at the party.  
"You know, the last time I was in this alley it was after Hawk's 16th birthday party. He and Doc had both had a little too much to drink and they had sat down here. Hawk was against the wall and Doc was on the ground, with his head in Hawk's lap. Both were pretty wasted," Twilight said grinning at the memory.  
"I wish I could've seen that," Bittah said.  
"Dags? You ok back there?" Britain asked which interrupted Dagger's humming.  
"Wha?" Dagger replied happily.  
"Nothing sweetie," Britain said as they headed home. 


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue  
  
5 Years Later  
  
"Hey guys. It's been a long time. Sorry 'bout that. I've really missed you both,"   
Dagger said to the patches of grass in front of her. There was no tombstone, but she knew   
where her friends were buried.  
"Doc, you'd be so proud. I got a job as a secretary. Nothing special, but I have a   
house of my own and a steady pay. I'm off the streets finally…although I do find myself   
going back to the Lodging House quite a bit. I help the new owner run it sometimes," she   
finished before turning to Hawk's grave.  
"Well, I hope you don't mind, but I've been using your last name. After Squall   
got locked up, everyone knew the name Kathryn Malarkey, but nobody knows Kathryn   
Smith. If it's a big deal, just zap me with a bolt of lightning or something," she paused for   
a minute to let out a little laugh. "Do you remember asking me and Twilight if we were   
related? Well, she's my half-sister, from a one-night stand my dad had before he met my   
mom. Well, I gotta go. I told Bittah, Britain, Twilight, and Switch we'd all go out tonight.   
I'll be back though. I love you both."  
  
Present Day  
  
So that's my great-grandma's story. She eventually married a man named Robert   
and gave birth to my mom and my aunt.  
She stayed friends with Lauren, Melody, Audrey, and Brett for a long time. You'd   
know them as Britain, Bittah, Twilight, and Switch. I knew them as family.  
  
  
Fade To Black 


End file.
